After Everything
by TheLestrangeMistress
Summary: She loved him and after everything they went through she didn't want to throw it away on what she truly hoped was a mistake.


**A/N: This fic is for Hogwarts assignment 8, Muggle History: The American Revolution task #7 Eliza Schuyler: Write about forgiveness. It's also for the Going, Going, Gone! Challenge for the prompt pairing: Draco/Pansy. I got the flower meanings from aggie-horticulture . . It's 1455 words.**

 _It takes a strong person to say they're sorry, and an even stronger person to forgive._ \- Various

The atmosphere in the flat which Pansy and Draco shared was tense.

"I thought I could trust you," Pansy said quietly.

"You can," Draco replied his voice cracking.

"Obviously I can't otherwise you wouldn't have done this to me."

"It was a mistake, Pansy. She doesn't mean anything to me. I love you," he said contritely.

"You don't love me enough to say sorry though, do you?" Pansy said.

That was the one thing which was keeping the witch from even thinking about forgiving him for his affair; the fact that he had not even apologised to her.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"You've said that it didn't mean anything, that you love me, and that you don't want me to leave, but you haven't said that you're sorry it happened. How can I stay when I know you don't regret it?" Pansy asked as tears threatened to fall.

"Pansy, I'm-"

"Don't say you're sorry now! You're only saying it because I told you that you hadn't," she said cutting him off.

"Then what do you want me to do?" Draco asked frustratedly.

"I want you to move out. I want you to think about whether you want to be with me or not, and I don't want to see you until you've decided what you're going to do," Pansy said firmly.

Draco studied her for a moment before nodding and leaving the room.

As she heard him start to pack, Pansy sat on the settee trying to keep her emotions in check.

She couldn't believe after everything they had gone through that Draco would have an affair. During the war he had pushed her away so that if anything happened she wouldn't be used against him, and even though Pansy didn't like it she understood that Draco was trying to protect her. After the war they had to fight to stay together when her father wanted to arrange a marriage between her and Theodore Nott. It wasn't that she didn't like Theodore - she did very much - but it wasn't enough. She _loved_ Draco and she wanted to spend the rest of her life with him.

Draco walked back in the room with a small trunk and straight back out into the hall where she heard the floo roar to life.

Unable to keep all of her emotions in any longer, Pansy started sobbing. She had put a brave face on when confronting Draco, or speaking to her parents but the truth was that she was devastated by breach of trust.

Astoria Greengrass was the complete opposite of her; blonde, blue eyes, slim, and absolutely stunning. In other words she was perfect. She was everything that Pansy had wanted to be in Hogwarts, but Draco had assured her that she was just as if not more beautiful than her friends sister. This whole incident had dredged up all her old insecurities and she would have to work through them again if she wanted to stay with him.

Did Pansy want to stay with Draco though?

The resounding answer was yes. She loved him and after everything they went through she didn't want to throw it away on what she truly hoped was a mistake.

Pansy wasn't likely to forget what he did very quickly but she would be able to forgive him if he proved that he was sorry.

Once she had stopped crying , Pansy took some pain relief potion for the headache that she had and went to bed. Tomorrow was another day and she hoped it would be better than the last.

Three days had passed since she had told Draco to leave and Pansy had not heard a single thing from him.

 _Maybe I was too hard on him. I shouldn't have told him to stay away until he made his decision. It only gives him more time to see what he's missing out on,_ she thought fretfully.

A knock on the front door pulled Pansy out of her thoughts before they could get any worse.

When she opened the door the last thing Pansy expected to see was a florist delivery boy.

"Are you Miss Parkinson?" he asked.

"Yes, I am."

"These are for you," he said handing over an odd looking bunch of flowers, "And please can you sign this form to say you got them."

Once Pansy had signed the form and gone back inside the flat, she looked more closely at the flowers she had received. She knew immediately that they had come from Draco because of what each flower meant.

Ever since she had been a young girl her mother, Iris, had taught her the language of flowers. She had once told Pansy that it was just as important to understand the message she was sending to someone as well as to understand what she had been sent in return.

There were five flowers in this bunch; a white chrysanthemum, a purple hyacinth, a red rose, a pink camelia, and a primrose. Together they said exactly what she wanted to hear from him. That he was telling her the truth, he was sorry, he loved and longed for her, and that he couldn't live without her.

Pansy noticed that a note was attached to them and turned it over to read. The familiar elegant script made her heart skip a beat. This was almost too good to be true.

 _My darling flower,_

 _I'm sorry. Please forgive me,_

 _Love always,_

 _Draco_

Tears welled up in her eyes again, but Pansy did not let them fall. It didn't matter that they were tears of happiness. She had had enough of crying to last her a lifetime.

 _What do I do now?_ she thought.

Looking into the nearest mirror Pansy saw how much of a mess she was. Her hair looked as if she hadn't brushed it in days, her skin was even paler than before, and she had dark circles under here eyes from lack of sleep. There was no way she could go and see Draco looking like this.

After a few hours of primping and pampering Pansy finally felt that she looked ready to face him. Her insides were in turmoil though due to the contradiction of emotions running through her. One minute she was happy and confident, and the next she was full of doubt.

Pansy took a deep breath before throwing some floo powder into the fireplace and saying 'Malfoy Manor'.

She had been there so many times that she knew all of Draco's hiding places and decided to head there rather than announcing her presence to Lucius and Narcissa.

Pansy knew that his favourite place was the quidditch pitch on the grounds, but the place he always went to when he felt down or upset was the armory.

The Malfoy family had acquired many swords over the centuries and they had been stored in a special room which most people were not aware existed. Draco, however, had shown it to her one day and told her that if she ever needed to find him after something terrible had happened, he would be there.

As Pansy entered the room she saw Draco fighting against a dummy and he looked magnificent. The raw strength he possessed took her breath away.

 _How could I ever have thought about giving him up?_ she thought.

Once the practice fight was over she clapped which made him turn around.

"Pansy," he said trying to catch his breath.

"You've improved since the last time I saw you," she complimented him.

"You're not here to talk about my fighting skills are you?" he asked.

"No, I'm not. I got your flowers, and your note. They were very thoughtful," Pansy said softly.

"I'm glad you liked them."

Silence enveloped the two for a moment as neither one of them could quite put into words what they wanted to say.

"I'm sorry for hurting you, and for making you think that I didn't love you. Will you forgive me?" he asked sounding remorseful.

"I love you, Draco, and I'm willing to forgive you this time, but if it ever happens again it will be over between us," Pansy told him.

"I won't, I promise," he said solemnly, "Does that mean I can move back in?"

"Of course you can move back in."

"Good my parents are driving me crazy," he said rolling his eyes.

As they walked down to the drawing room hand in hand, Pansy knew that it would take time to truly forgive and trust Draco again. But she also knew that if things worked out then all the heartache would be worth it.


End file.
